Dream
by Twilight-chan
Summary: Shinji has a dream about Tabris. Short and sweet, absolute fluff. But very cute!


Dream  
  
Disclaimer: Don't even think for a second that I own   
Evangelion or any related titles, characters, products,   
objects, etc. I don't own Shinji, sadly. Don't sue, and if   
you do I'll sic my Gundam pilots on you. Have a nice day.  
  
Rubbing my eyes sleepily, I stumble—over an empty case of   
Yebisu beer—into the cluttered kitchen. Misato is already   
seated at the small table, munching a bag of barbecue   
potato chips and gazing into space. Her trance is broken as   
she notices my groggy entrance and smiles, offering me some   
chips.  
  
"Ohayo, sleepyhead. Want some?"  
  
I shake my head, pulling a box of the junky, sugary cereal   
that Misato bought /especially/ for me out of the cupboard   
and producing a bowl, milk and spoon from various cupboards   
and drawers that my sleepy limbs instinctively open.   
  
After preparing my none-too-healthy breakfast, I join   
Misato at the table, still blinking sleep from my eyes. She   
finishes off a can of beer, crushing it in her hand and   
tossing it deftly into the recycling bin by the corner. She   
then turns to me.  
  
"Did you have any good dreams last night?"  
  
I ponder, recalling my visions of slumber. I wonder how I   
should answer this; should I tell her about the strange   
dream I received, or play the bland, shy boy she knows so   
well? I choose the latter, shaking my head and chomping on   
the marshmallowy sweetness of my cereal.  
  
"I can't remember. Don't think so," I answer, after   
swallowing the spoonful. My eyes avert to the bowl of   
cereal quickly becoming soggy, remembering the dream.   
  
I was alone. I hopped out of unit 01's plug, gazing   
around at my surroundings. My brain told me Rei had been   
with me, and Asuka too. But searching around, I found no   
traces of unit 00 or 02 anywhere. Not a footprint in sight.   
Fear began to creep over me, as I realized the night was   
cold. I shivered slightly in the skin-tight material of my   
plug suit. I wasn't able to force sound from my throat as I   
tried to call for Rei, Asuka, Misato, or anyone that could   
help me find my way home.   
The thin forest was unfamiliar, and an unearthly sound   
came from within the trees. When I looked around, even unit   
01 was gone, vanished. Then I was really alone, no form of   
life whatsoever. Something caught my attention, and I   
glanced upwards at its source.  
A tiny light in the sky, like a beacon, it filled me   
with an oddly warm feeling. I felt myself rising then; up   
towards the light that was growing steadily the more I   
looked at it. Reaching my arms out into its brightness, the   
light swallowed me up and the dark, barren forest was no   
more. Instead, I was floating in a world like no other. I   
can't remember now how it exactly looked like, just one   
word made its way into my mind: safe. I was safe, in a   
haven to protect me from harm. I then realized I was naked,   
but saw to problem with it. I was safe, in this   
otherworldly land of light and air.  
Someone else was in this place, and I squinted my eyes   
to make out their form. It looked like a human, but I   
couldn't be sure of its species, since my eyes couldn't   
quite open right. I then heard my name, floating towards   
me, on an unseen breeze that didn't even ruffle the cloth-  
like forms around me.  
  
"Shinji…" The voice is soft, calm and gentle, and it made   
me think of tiny wavelets crashing silently onto a white-  
sanded beach.  
  
"Shinji…" it said again, coming closer. It was the other   
thing that was there with me, moving towards me. I couldn't   
be sure if it were walking or flying, its movements were   
blurred, as were the rest of its form.  
  
"Hello, my friend…" The being came into focus, and I could   
make out what it was. It looked like a boy, though I   
couldn't be sure of its gender. Its short, unkempt grayish   
hair moved slightly in the breeze that I somehow couldn't   
hear or feel, but its features were blurred. I couldn't   
make out its face.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked, the sound of my own loud voice   
startling myself. The being looked unfazed, though again I   
was never sure.  
  
"That is for you to choose… friend, enemy, lover, whatever   
you like. I rely on your choice," it said. I frowned.  
  
"Why would you want to rely on someone like me?" I replied   
coldly, looking at my feet, hovering in the off-white   
world.  
  
"You are more than you think. Although mentally you are   
unstable, within you lies the courage you need for the   
Judgment. The final test is approaching," it said, the   
sound of its voice reassuring me somehow. I wanted to drift   
away, forever in this warm, bright land, and never return   
to the harsh life I knew so well.  
  
"What is your name?" I asked, trying again to make out its   
facial features.  
  
"I am called… Tabris. I shall serve as part of the   
Judgment." The being's very name made me melt. It was   
beautiful, a name fit for someone not of my planet.  
  
"Y-you have… a beautiful name," I said. Even though I   
couldn't make out its features, I was sure I saw it smile.   
That smile filled me further with warmth, and I was full   
fit to burst with bliss that this unearthly place. I look   
up at the being, smiling warmly and moving towards it.  
  
"I think I want to be your friend, Tabris."  
  
Without warning, Tabris brought me into a warm embrace,   
thought I could barely feel its body close to mine. I   
accepted it, bringing my arms around its shining form and   
nestling my face in its gray-white hair. I thought I caught   
a glimpse of unfolding pale wings from its back, but the   
vision disappeared quickly. Tabris' hair smelled good, like   
some exotic pale flower, and I could've stayed like that   
forever, there in its arms.  
  
"If you would like, I can be more than that," it said   
finally. I brought myself out from our hug and smiled up at   
him. It was then that I finally saw some part of his face,   
but just his eyes. Deep, ruby red, the same crimson I had   
only seen one other place…  
  
"That would be nice…" I whispered sleepily into its ear,   
closing my eyes. However, when I opened them, I found   
myself not in the pale, warm world, or even in the dark   
forest of the night. I was back in my bed, in my room in   
Misato's apartment. I stared for a long time at the   
ceiling, remembering small parts of the dream I had just   
had. I smiled, thinking of the sweet Tabris and the bright   
place that filled me with blissful feelings. I rolled over   
on my pillow, closing my eyes and wishing to be sent back   
into that vision again, but no such luck as I encountered   
dreamless sleep. I wondered if I would ever see Tabris   
again. Though there were doubts in the back of my mind, as   
always, something told me I would. That very hope was what   
helped me sleep, even dream every night.  



End file.
